Handbook of Tea Leaf Body Styles American Tea Leaf

Handbook
of Tea Leaf Body Styles
American Tea Leaf
Compiled by Julie Rich
A Project of the Education Committee
of Tea Leaf Club International
© 2003 by Tea Leaf Club International. All rights reserved.
No portion of this publication may be reproduced without written consent.
Handbook of Tea Leaf Body Styles
© TLCI: September 2003
American Tea Leaf
Knowles, Taylor Knowles
In 1981 when Annise Heaivilin published Grandma's Tea Leaf Ironstone, she gave us the names and histories of 16 American potters of
Tea Leaf. This Tea Leaf Handbook addition lists 42 American potters of
Tea Leaf plus three decorating entities who decorated with the Tea
Leaf motif. There are many pieces of Tea Leaf decorated white ironstone waiting to be found and listed.
Annise was a speaker at the 2nd Tea Leaf Convention in Rockford,
Illinois, and she introduced many members to the subject of American
Tea Leaf. It was there that I first became aware of the fact that not all
the Tea Leaf that had been accumulating in my collection of Tea Leaf
came from those great potters in Staffordshire, England. It was the
beginning of my research into who made Tea Leaf in America, where
the American potters were found, and why.
So now comes an American Tea Leaf Handbook to share information
about the American potters of Tea Leaf.
English potters came to America as early as the 1700s. James Bennett
arrived in East Liverpool, Ohio in 1839. Finding clay that was ideal for
making yellowware or c.c., he began the first pottery in that city. In
1844, James and three of his brothers moved the pottery to Pittsburgh,
PA. Brother, Edwin, moved on to Baltimore, MD, and established a
pottery there that existed many years with three generations of
Bennetts at its head.
In East Liverpool, others followed in James Bennett's footsteps and
every year from the 1840's through the 1900's and beyond, East
Liverpool became known as "Crockery City." By 1853, ELO could
boast of 16 potteries, employing 387 people. Their product was still
earthenware but whiteware or ironstone was soon to come.
For Trenton, the potteries came a short time later. Goldberg credits an
Englishman named Charles Hattersly with the beginning of the
potting industry in Trenton. Not a potter but a keen businessman,
Hattersly had visited ELO and tried to solicit some of the established
potters there into coming East to expand their business to that area.
The potters were James Taylor, Henry Speeler and William Bloor. Not
only did they agree that Trenton was an ideal place, located between
Philadelphia and New York, having the advantage of good transportation for goods, but they proceeded to move to Trenton. Indeed, they
even bought the property that Hattersly had selected as the area on
which to establish his operation. They began their pottery there.
With the success of the Taylor and Speeler pottery, others quickly
East Liverpool, Ohio
Dates
1870-1929
1890-1920 (Tea Leaf)
Treatment
Gold lustre
Services
Tableware, toilet ware
Body Styles
Tacoma
Founders Isaac Knowles, his son Homer S. Knowles, son-in-law
John N. Taylor, began a pottery that became the largest pottery
in the United States, selling to every state in the union. Isaac
was the originator of many improvements in the pottery industry. K.T.K. was the first pottery in the U.S. to use natural gas to
fire the kilns. By 1887, K.T.K. operated 16 kilns, 12 decorating
kilns, and employed six hundred workers. The company produced a finished cask of product every ten minutes of working
time. Ironstone was produced in five shapes, "Tacoma" being the
name given to Tea Leaf pieces.
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Handbook of Tea Leaf Body Styles
© TLCI: September 2003
Handbook of Tea Leaf Body Styles
© TLCI: September 2003
American Tea Leaf
(Continued)
joined them and Trenton earned the nickname of the American
Staffordshire. Hattersly later did start his business in Trenton but
Taylor, Speeler and Bloor were given the credit for being the first
potters to come to Trenton.
What were the requirements for building a pottery in any given
place, and why were ELO and Trenton such successful areas for the
operation? First, there was the need for supplies such as clay and coal
(the first potteries fired their kilns with coal). Second was the need for
transportation to send the product to potential buyers.
ELO had the clay and it was located right on the river. Trenton
depended on clays from nearby Delaware, and they too had canal and
railroad transportation. When Stuebenville Pottery was established, it
was because shrewd businessmen recognized the potential of the city
as a pottery center because of the clay and coal deposits located
within the city limits. Railroad transportaion was also available. They
persuaded competent potters to establish the Steubenville Pottery.
An interesting aside on clay deposits. Staffordshire was, of course,
established as a pottery area because of the large amounts of clay
found there. Have you ever wondered why those devastating holes in
roads are called "pot holes"? The old English potters could sometimes
not be bothered with going into fields to dig clay when established
roads were there, and so they dug clay from the roads. Hence, the
connotation "pot holes."
Although ELO and Trenton were the recognized centers of the
potting industry, potteries were established in areas close to these
centers: Newell, WVA; Steubenville, OH; and Wheeling, WVA.
Pennsylvania also contained a number of potteries, the most successful being J.&E. Mayer. That pottery was established because of the
Beaver Falls waterfalls which supplied the pottery with power and
which had been the site of the old Harmonists pottery.
The potting of ironstone was largely confined to the areas mentioned
above, but there were potteries in Cincinnati, probably because of the
Ohio River. ELO shipped pottery down the river to areas needing
tableware, etc. Tempest Brockman is credited by Ramsay as being the
first pottery in the West to produce ironstone.
Another requirement for building successful potteries in the United
States was the need for competent workers. Some chores could be
easily taught but successful potters, modelers, and decorators were
the result of many years of experience. Fortunately, at the time the
J. & E. Mayer
Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania
Dates
1881-present
1881-1900's
Right, Simple
Square
Below,
Embossed
Treatment
Copper lustre
Services
Tableware, toilet ware, hotel
and restaurant china
Body Styles
Plain Round, Simple Square,
Embossed
The brothers, Joseph and Ernest Mayer, were British potters
from a long line of Staffordshire potters. They knew Tea Leaf
and produced it in large quantities with copper lustre covering
the brown underglaze motif, a rarity in American Tea Leaf.
Their Tea Leaf was called "Luster Band and Sprig" as they had
known it in England.
Tea Leaf or Luster Band and Sprig was discontinued and the
company was bought by Shenango Pottery who retained the
name of Mayer Pottery and is, today, the largest producer of
restaurant china in the U.S.
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Handbook of Tea Leaf Body Styles
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Handbook of Tea Leaf Body Styles
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American Tea Leaf
(Continued)
American potteries were coming into existence, England was experiencing great financial difficulties. The potteries were closing or
curtailing production, and potters were finding it hard to find work.
And there was this great new area, the U.S., with wonderful opportunities for people who wanted to work. There were subscription
services set up so that potters could contribute to them and then
emigrate to America. After the first had come, they wrote home about
the opportunities here and more and more followed. So, although
they are known as American potters, they were born and trained in
their trade in England, in Staffordshire, the center of the English
speaking potters of white ironstone.
One question that has long puzzled collectors of Tea Leaf is why so
many of the American potteries used gold lustre rather than copper,
and why so few used an under-glaze motif? Annise answers one of
these questions. She writes that two American companies, Hanovia
and DuPont, manufactured a "liquid gold" for decoration that could
be fired. The two companies refused to disclose their secret formula so
pottery decorators were forced to purchase the product from them.
There is also the fact that when much of the whiteware or ironstone
was being decorated with lustre, the Civil War was causing the
ingredients of copper lustre to be used for other purposes. East End
Pottery, Mayer, and Steubenville all used the copper lustre decoration,
and all three were established by English potters who may have
brought the secret of the lustre with them. But neither Mayer or
Steubenville used an under-glaze motif. East End did as evidenced by
the faint lavender shadow that remains when the lustre is gone.
Why did some of the American pottery decorators digress so drastically from the accepted Tea Leaf motif? Some of the English potters
did the same. Could it be that these new Americans felt a freedom to
express their individuality through the creation of a different form of
an old theme? It's a question to be pondered by researchers into
American Tea Leaf in the years to come.
This handbook is an attempt to answer some of your questions about
American Tea Leaf. It is also hoped that you will learn to appreciate
the product of these American potters. That they found a new site to
practice an old art is an exciting prospect for those of us who have
come to appreciate the American Tea Leaf as much as we appreciate
the English pieces.
McNicol, Burton & Co.
East Liverpool, Ohio
Dates
1869-1892
1880s (Tea Leaf)
Treatment
Gold lustre
Services
Tableware, toilet ware
Founders were Adolph Fritz, William McClure, John McNicol,
Patrick McNicol, William Burton, Sr., William Burton, Jr., and
John Dover. Within 6 months, Fritz and McClure withdrew.
Later John Dover retired and John McNicol sold his interest to
his two sons, D.E. and H.A. The company was a very successful
pottery, expanding to the point where it employed 40 workers.
The company ceased to exist as McNicol, Burton & Co. on the
death of Burton, Sr. and retirement of Burton, Jr. In 1892, it
became the D. E. McNicol Pottery Co.
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Handbook of Tea Leaf Body Styles
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Handbook of Tea Leaf Body Styles
© TLCI: September 2003
Some words from the author
D. E. McNicol Pottery Company
East Liverpool, Ohio
I would like to thank Annise Heaivilin for first introducing me
to the joys of American Tea Leaf and the study of it. We all have
much to thank Annise for with the 1981 publication of her book,
still the only acknowledged reference on Tea Leaf Ironstone.
Personally, I would like to thank all of the members who have
brought pieces of American Tea Leaf or suspected Tea Leaf to
my attention so that I could study and learn about it.
I want to particularly thank Jim and Nancy Gaines who
supplied me with so many pictures and so much information.
All of us owe much thanks to Nancy Upchurch for her unending search for education about Tea Leaf and her conception of a
Handbook, making it easy for us to know so much about our
collections.
Thank you, too, to those many people who have encouraged
me to gather my notes and share my knowledge about American potters and American Tea Leaf. Particular thanks go to Dale
Abrams, to Chris Weinbrenner, to Dick Brackin, for their
encouragement and support.
And thanks to all of you I hope will read and enjoy what I
have written and learned about American Tea Leaf all these
long years.
Sincerely,
Julie Rich, Editor Emeritus
Dates
1892-1954
1892-1925 (Tea Leaf)
Treatment
Gold lustre
Services
Tableware, toilet ware, hotel and restaurant ware
The company followed McNicol, Burton & Co. and continued to
prosper under the leadership of Daniel Edward McNicol. By
1919, there were four potteries operated by D. E. McNicol, three
in East Liverpool and one in Clarksburg, WVA. One plant in
ELO and the Clarksburg plant produced white ware. This
company was still producing cream ware long after other plants
had abandoned its production. Its ironstone was called "semivitreous" and was lighter weight than the ironstone. It was one
of the last potteries in ELO.
5
Handbook of Tea Leaf Body Styles
© TLCI: September 2003
Handbook of Tea Leaf Body Styles
© TLCI: September 2003
References
Onondaga Pottery
Syracuse, New York
• Barber, Edwin Atlee
• Barber, Edwin Atlee
• DeBolt, Gerald
• Foil, Richard
• Heaivilin, Annise
Doring
• Gates, William C., Jr.
• Gates, William C., Jr.
• Goldberg, David J.
• Kowalsky, Arnold A.
• Kowalsky, Dorothy E.
• Lehner, Lois
• Ramsay, John
• Rich, Julie
• Upchurch, Nancy J.
The Pottery and Porcelain of the United States
G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1901
Marks of American Potters
Ars Ceramica, 1976
DeBolt's Dictionary of American Pottery
Marks, Whiteware & Porcelain
Collectors Books, 1994
Cumbuw China of Abingdon, Virginia
Published by Richard Foil
Grandma's Tea Leaf Ironstone - A History and
Study of English and American Potteries
Wallace Homestead, 1981
The East Liverpool, Ohio Pottery District
Identification of Manufacturers and Marks
Journal of the Society for Historical
Archaeology, 1982
The City of Hills and Kilns
Life and Work in East Liverpool, Ohio
The East Liverpool Historical Society, 1984
POTTERIES, The Story of Trenton's Ceramic
Industry: The First Thirty Years - 1852-1882
(and beyond)
1983 (Revised 1998)
Encyclopedia of Marks on American, English
and European Earthenware, Ironstone and
Stoneware, 1780-1980
Schiffer Publishing Company, 1999
Lehner's Encyclopedia of U.S. MARKS on
Pottery, Porcelain & Clay
Collector's Books, 1988
American Potters and Pottery
Tudor Publishing Co., 1947
American Tea Leaf
Tea Leaf Club International, 1992
Tea Leaf Handbook
Tea Leaf Club International, 1995
Dates
1871-1966
1874-1893 (Tea Leaf)
Treatment
Gold lustre
Services
Tableware, hotel ware
Organized by a group of businessmen who bought the Empire
pottery works for the production of white ware. The production
of ironstone was discontinued in 1893.
In 1966, the pottery was sold to Syracuse China Co. which is still
in business, specializing in kitchen, hotel and restaurant ware.
Only piece to be brought to my attention as of this date is a 9"
plate in the collection of Elaine Nelson of WI who brought a
copy of the backmark to the 1991 convention to study. The
backmark is the New York state coat-of-arms.
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Handbook of Tea Leaf Body Styles
© TLCI: September 2003
Handbook of Tea Leaf Body Styles
© TLCI: September 2003
American Crockery Co.
Ott & Brewer
Trenton, NJ
Trenton, New Jersey
Dates
1871-1893
-?- (Tea Leaf)
Dates
1866-1887
1870-1880+ (Tea Leaf)
Treatment
Gold lustre
Treatment
Gold lustre
Services
Tableware
Service
Tableware
Unable to find names of owners, potters or anyone having to do
with production of Tea Leaf. Greenberg does mention that
Pliney Fisk was the principal investor. They made very wellpotted Tea Leaf.
Handbook of Tea Leaf Body Styles
© TLCI: September 2003
Founders were Joseph Ott and his nephew, John Hart Brewer,
who took over a pottery facility of Bloor, Ott and Brewer when
William Bloor returned to ELO, changing the name to Ott &
Brewer. The pottery was known as the Eturia facility. Ott was a
well-known businessman of Trenton, Brewer was a potter. The
company was recognized as outstanding makers of ironstone as
well as developers of American Belleek, winning prizes in the
1876 Centennial Exposition.
John Hart Brewer helped to organize the United States Potters'
Association, serving as Secretary and later as President of the
organization.
Handbook of Tea Leaf Body Styles
© TLCI: September 2003
Anchor Pottery
Pioneer Pottery Co.
Trenton, New Jersey
Wheeling, West Virginia
Gates and Ormerod believed Pioneer
was inactive beteween c. 1891 and
1895.
Dates
1884-1900
1890-1900 (Tea Leaf)
Dates
1884-1894
1894-1926
Treatment
Gold lustre
Treatment
Gold
Service
Tableware, toilet ware, decorative items (Goldberg)
Body Styles
Plain Round
First owner was Israel Lacey - died in 1894.
Next owner was James E. Norris, Cyril & Frank Norris, who
built the business into 14 kilns and 250 employees. Some of the
pottery buildings still exist on New York Avenue in Trenton.
(Goldberg)
Handbook of Tea Leaf Body Styles
The ribbon at the bottom of the above mark
may have the Latin LABOR OMNIA VINCIT
instead of STONE CHINA.
© TLCI: September 2003
Services
Tableware, toilet ware
Founders Hamer Michaels, I.B. Clark, and George Morley
operated a two kiln pottery in Wellsville, WVA as Morley & Co.
Morley withdrew in 1884 and the pottery continued under the
name Pioneer Pottery until 1890 when the pottery closed. This
site became the Wellsville China Co.
As of this publication, Riene Wells owns the only piece(s) of
Pioneer Pottery that has been reported. Riene and her husband
operate a Bed and Breakfast in Eagle Center, WI. Her collection
is on display for her guests to enjoy and all meals are served on
Tea Leaf.
Handbook of Tea Leaf Body Styles
© TLCI: September 2003
Bahl China
The Potters Cooperative
Carrolton, Ohio
East Liverpool, Ohio
Dates
1882-1925
1890-1900
Treatment
Gold lustre
Services
Tableware, toilet ware, hotel ware
Body Styles
American Favorite (my name for it) - domed lid, stepped finial,
oval shaped base, uplift handles
Dates
1940-1941
Treatment
Gold
Service
Only pieces found have been small bowls
Body Style
Cameo Rose identified as the only body style produced by this
short-lived company. Owner was John Bahl, who had been a
designer for Edwin M. Knowles Co. in 1910. He was also a
partner in an ELO decorating firm.
Handbook of Tea Leaf Body Styles
© TLCI: September 2003
Established in 1882 by a group of disgruntled potters who had been
locked out of their potteries after trying to form a Pottery Workers
Union. The facility was at the Dresden Works (which accounts for the
number of pieces marked with Dresden backmark) and H.A. McNicol
(see McNicol, Burton and D.E. McNicol) became President when the
other potters returned to their original works. They employed an
interesting variant Tea Leaf which is sometimes called the "Tea Plum,"
but they also used the traditional Tea Leaf.
Comments: The covered vegetable shown here is one of my favorite
pieces of American Tea Leaf. It is, in my opinion, a graceful piece, the
motif closely resembling Shaw's. The stepped finial and lug handles
have an impressed flower shape embossed on them. The piece is in
mint condition, appearing to have never been used, with no crazing.
Handbook of Tea Leaf Body Styles
© TLCI: September 2003
Brockman Pottery Co.
Red Cliff Ironstone (Hall China)
Cincinnati, Ohio
East Liverpool, Ohio
Dates
1903-present
1957-1977 (Tea Leaf)
Dates
1887-1912
Treatment
Copper lustre, no underpattern
Treatment
Copper - Hall calls it Bronze
Service
Tableware
Services
Tableware
Body Style
Cable and Ring
Body Styles
Chinese Shape, Wedgwood Ribbed, Gothic
Founder was C.E. Brockman; the company closed on his death.
Comment: Very little has been done to research the history of
the Cincinnati potters of Tea Leaf although they (Brockman;
Tempest, Brockman & Co.; George Scott) preceded East
Liverpool and Trenton in the production of whiteware.
Handbook of Tea Leaf Body Styles
© TLCI: September 2003
Red Cliff Tea Leaf is actually a reproduction. Fred Clifford of
Red Cliff Co. purchased old pieces of English Tea Leaf and had
it reproduced by Hall China Co. of ELO. Hall is a very old company and continues making ironstone and china to this date.
Red Cliff Tea Leaf was discontinued because Hall could not produce a lustre that would not wash off in the dish washer. This
Tea Leaf must be washed by hand as you would old Tea Leaf.
Note: Hall incorrectly called it Sydenham.
Handbook of Tea Leaf Body Styles
© TLCI: September 2003
Tempest, Brockman & Co.
George Scott
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati, Ohio
Dates
1862-1887
Dates
1846-1902
- ? - 1888 (Tea Leaf)
Treatment
Gold lustre
Treatment
Copper, no underpattern
Services
Tableware
Service
Tableware
Body Style
Only pieces found are cups/saucers
Owners were M. & N. Tempest, C.E. Brockman. Later became
Tempest, Brockman and Sampson Pottery Co., and then became
Brockman Pottery Co.
From Nancy & Jim Gaines comes this photo of their cup/saucer.
I have four cups/saucers in my collection.
Handbook of Tea Leaf Body Styles
© TLCI: September 2003
Body Styles
Circle and Dot (my name for the pattern)
Handles are twisted rope, the shape is hexagonal spheroid with
recessed base, the lids are plateau with horizontal arch finial.
George and Rachel Scott emigrated to Cincinnati from Staffordshire where both came from families long associated with the
ironstone potteries. Their factory was a converted tavern and sat
on the land now occupied by the Cincinnati ball park. The
pottery was very successful, making much undecorated whiteware, easier to find than Tea Leaf pattern. George Scott was a
very successful potter and his products were widely distributed.
When he died, his daughter, Sarah, inherited the business and
ran it with her husband who was also a potter.
Handbook of Tea Leaf Body Styles
© TLCI: September 2003
Wm. Brunt, Jr. & Co.
Wm. Brunt, Son & Co.
Sebring Pottery Co.
(1)
(2)
East Liverpool, Ohio
East Liverpool, Ohio
Dates
1865-1878 (1) - 1878-1911 (2)
Dates
1887-1940
1888-1900 (Tea Leaf)
Treatment
Gold
Service
Tableware, toilet ware, spittoons, mustache cups, toy tea sets
Body Style
Plain Round, Simple Square
Embossing
Bracket handles, finials have raised dots following the shape
around the edges.
Founder Wm. Brunt, Jr. began making whiteware at the East
Liverpool pottery in 1877. Son, William, and son-in-law, Brad
Louthan, joined him and the company became Wm. Brunt, Son
& Co. From Nancy & Jim Gaines comes this photo of a covered
syrup pitcher by Wm. Brunt, Son & Co.
Handbook of Tea Leaf Body Styles
© TLCI: September 2003
Treatment
Gold
Services
Tableware, toilet ware, accessories
Body Style
Golden Drape (my name)
The five Sebring brothers founded Sebring Pottery in 1887 and
began making whiteware. The five kiln pottery was successful
enough to add a second plant of six kilns built in the East End of
ELO and called the Klondike facility because of its distance
from the center of town. Sebring Pottery was so successful that
the brothers bought land in Ohio in 1898 and built their own
city, christened Sebring, which became the site of their potteries.
Tea Leaf was made in ELO, not at the Ohio potteries.
Handbook of Tea Leaf Body Styles
© TLCI: September 2003